Swedes Flee Socialized Medicine After Year-Long Waiting Lists

Princess Madeleine has decided that her child will be born in the US

One in ten Swedes now has private health insurance, often through their employers, with some recipients stating it makes business sense to be seen quickly rather than languish in national health care queues.

Also it makes good survival sense and good 'no longer suffering' sense.

More than half a million Swedes now have private health insurance, showed a new review from industry organization Swedish Insurance (Svensk Försäkring). In eight out of ten cases, the person’s employer had offered them the private insurance deal.

“It’s quicker to get a colleague back to work if you have an operation in two weeks’ time rather than having to wait for a year,” privately insured Anna Norlander told Sveriges Radio on Friday. “It’s terrible that I, as a young person, don’t feel I can trust the health care system to take care of me.”

It does help workplace productivity if your employees aren't dead or screaming in pain every day. It's a shame how capitalism distorts the practice of medicine to favor people who don't want to be sick.

The insurance plan guarantees that she can see a specialist within four working days, and get a time for surgery, if needed, within 15.

Somebody needs to check their privilege.

In December, the queues in the Swedish health care system pushed the country down a European ranking of healthcare.

“Why can Albania operate its healthcare services with practically zero waiting times, and Sweden cannot?” the report authors from the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP) organization in Brussels asked, albeit acknowledging modest improvements. “The Swedish queue-shortening project, on which the state has spent approximately €5 billion, has achieved some shortening of waiting times.”

Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O'Neil have decided that their child will be born in the US, the Swedish Royal Court has announced.

"After careful consideration and in consultation with the King and Queen, Princess Madeleine and Mr. Christopher O'Neill have decided that their child will be born in New York," Svante Lindqvist at the Royal Court wrote in a statement.

Writer and royal expert Roger Lundgren has explained Madeleine's decision to give birth in New York as a purely practical decision.

"She has had a tough pregnancy, she missed the Nobel banquette for example, and it is simply more convenient to give birth there than in Sweden," he said.